For those interested in a follow-up story on the Danny Almonte story. He is currently a freshman a Monroe HS in the Bronx. They have one of the great programs in the city and the coach is one of the best. It appears he is a good 15 year old pitcher.
Tom F.
Almonte KOs Columbus
By John Boell
STAFF WRITER
April 24, 2003
Ping. Ping.
Two pitches, two fastballs, two doubles. Next thing Danny Almonte knew, he and Monroe were trailing Columbus by two runs. This was not the kind of start the highly publicized freshman pitcher wanted.
But with the composure of a senior, Almonte calmed down, then heated up.
The former Rolando Paulino All-Star allowed only two Columbus players to reach base after the second inning to lead Monroe to a 6-2 baseball win at Lehman High School in a fourth-round winners'-bracket game of the 34th annual Monroe Tournament yesterday.
Monroe will host Lehman at 1 p.m. today in a quarterfinal game.
"In the first inning, I wasn't feeling it. I felt shaky," Almonte said through translator and assistant coach Felipe Cordova. "But once I got going, I was like 'OK,' and I took it from there."
Indeed. Almonte, who was at the center of the controversy surrounding a Bronx Little League team in the 2001 Little League World Series because he was found to be two years over the 12-year-old limit, improved to 4-1 on the season. He got six of his final seven outs by way of strikeout.
"I felt like I was in control," said Almonte, who allowed four hits with 10 strikeouts, one hit batter and no walks for the complete-game win. "I started to blow them away with the fastball."
Still, Monroe coach Mike Turo believed he had seen better from his young, talented southpaw.
"He didn't have his fastball, but later, he showed occasional pop," Turo said. "He kept the ball low, and he was very confident after the second inning."
Meanwhile, Monroe capitalized on three Columbus errors and scored four runs in the third, highlighted by an RBI triple by Victor Liriano, who later added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to push the lead to 5-2.
Columbus coach Pete Nizzari, who started six sophomores, took a positive look at the loss.
"We're out there playing against the [defending PSAL] champs and we gave up three unearned runs, but we didn't get embarrassed," said Nizzari, whose team is 8-4.
Monroe (20-3-1) added a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Carlos Fermin. From there, it was all Almonte.
Victor Morales improved to 5-0 and hit a two-run homer to highlight a 2-for-3 game at the plate as Monroe defeated Christ the King, 9-3, in an earlier game.
MONROE 6
COLUMBUS 2
Copyright ? 2003, Newsday, Inc.
http://www.nypost.com/sports/34655.htm
Another article with a picture.
Tom F.
Almonte KOs Columbus
By John Boell
STAFF WRITER
April 24, 2003
Ping. Ping.
Two pitches, two fastballs, two doubles. Next thing Danny Almonte knew, he and Monroe were trailing Columbus by two runs. This was not the kind of start the highly publicized freshman pitcher wanted.
But with the composure of a senior, Almonte calmed down, then heated up.
The former Rolando Paulino All-Star allowed only two Columbus players to reach base after the second inning to lead Monroe to a 6-2 baseball win at Lehman High School in a fourth-round winners'-bracket game of the 34th annual Monroe Tournament yesterday.
Monroe will host Lehman at 1 p.m. today in a quarterfinal game.
"In the first inning, I wasn't feeling it. I felt shaky," Almonte said through translator and assistant coach Felipe Cordova. "But once I got going, I was like 'OK,' and I took it from there."
Indeed. Almonte, who was at the center of the controversy surrounding a Bronx Little League team in the 2001 Little League World Series because he was found to be two years over the 12-year-old limit, improved to 4-1 on the season. He got six of his final seven outs by way of strikeout.
"I felt like I was in control," said Almonte, who allowed four hits with 10 strikeouts, one hit batter and no walks for the complete-game win. "I started to blow them away with the fastball."
Still, Monroe coach Mike Turo believed he had seen better from his young, talented southpaw.
"He didn't have his fastball, but later, he showed occasional pop," Turo said. "He kept the ball low, and he was very confident after the second inning."
Meanwhile, Monroe capitalized on three Columbus errors and scored four runs in the third, highlighted by an RBI triple by Victor Liriano, who later added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to push the lead to 5-2.
Columbus coach Pete Nizzari, who started six sophomores, took a positive look at the loss.
"We're out there playing against the [defending PSAL] champs and we gave up three unearned runs, but we didn't get embarrassed," said Nizzari, whose team is 8-4.
Monroe (20-3-1) added a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Carlos Fermin. From there, it was all Almonte.
Victor Morales improved to 5-0 and hit a two-run homer to highlight a 2-for-3 game at the plate as Monroe defeated Christ the King, 9-3, in an earlier game.
MONROE 6
COLUMBUS 2
Copyright ? 2003, Newsday, Inc.
http://www.nypost.com/sports/34655.htm
Another article with a picture.
